Improvement in steam street-cars



. v 2 Sheets-Sheet I. E. P. V-AUX. Steam Street-Oar.

No. 199,762. Patented Jan. 29,1878.

Inventor;-

N. PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHEH, WASHINGTONv ,D.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. E. P. VAUX.

Steam Street-Oar.

No. 199,762. Patented Jan. 29,1878.

NPUERS; PNOTD-LITNOGRAPHEN, WASNINGYUN. D. c

V UNITED Srnrnsf PATENT OFFICE;

.ETHAN PQVAUX, or wxsnnieron, nrsrnior on COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOB OF ONE-HALF HIS RIGHT'TOWILLIAMPOWELL, or SAME PLAo'E.

IMPROVEMENT IN STEAM STREET-CARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0.,1 9 9,762, dated January 29, 1878; application. filed n December 29, 1877. v

To all/whomtt may concern! I Be it known that I, ETHAN l. VAUX, of the city and county of Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented certainnew-and useful Gombinationsof Auxiliary Mechanism for Street and other Oars, which are fully setforth in the following specification and accompanying drawings, in which latter Figure 1 is a plan view of mya1 mechanism appliedto a locomotive-truck frame. Fig, 2.is.a side elevation of the same, the parts being fully exposed to viewbyhavingpor;

tionspf the truck-frame sectioned and broken away. Fig. 3 is a frontelevationof the same, the frame being sectioned and broken away so as to exhibit the parts more plainly. :1

The propulsion or locomotion of street-cars by steam-power has, so far proved advantageous only on level ground, or on ground with very slight grade, but it has not yet satisfactorily superseded horse-power in' hilly regions, for the reason that'a large and powerful en'- gine, under ordinary plans, must be employed for propelling a car up a tolerably steep, in cline, which; engine, on account of its great weight and clumsiness of itsparts, is unfit for street-car purposes as well as very fast propulsion, while a light engine, suitable for'such purposes and capable of swift propulsion, lacks the power necessary for ascending steep hills. I propose to overcome the two named objections by adding to a steam-locomotive truck of ordinary construction an auxiliary drivingshaft, with wheels connected with a device for giving speed and a device for giving power, both devices being alternately moved by an auxiliary steam-engine, which is used, at the will of the engineer, either for increasing the speed or the power of the locomotive, and iswhich the single engine of the ordinary locomotive produces. p 1 I Inthe drawings, A represents the truckframe of a locomotive; B B, the axles ,1 B{, an auxiliary axle (l, the wheels of the axles B, andGf the wheels of axletB. The wheels 0 are coupled bymeanslof side rods b,1,in the usual manner, a-nd one of the axles B is provided with a crank, b, which: is revolved. by the connecting-rod rd of a steam-engine, D, upon a boiler, E.

There are other known constructions or devices beside the one just described for propelling s'treet passenger-cars, to any one of which my improved auxiliary mechanism may be added without change of the nature of, my invention;

, The axle B is provided with a gear-wheel,

bflwhich is driven by a large toothed crownwheel, F, on an upright shaft, f. The shaft f is provided witha trunnel-pinion, f arranged between the bearingsg g of the shaft, which bearings are on a frame, A A, of the locomotive-truck. On the upper end of this shaft a screw f is formed, on which is a hand-wheel, g2, whereby thefshaft f may be raisedor low cred. A wheel, G, gears into the pinion f5,

and is driven by means of a pulley, g3,-on its. shaft gfland a cord orchain, h, "The shaftigt is mounted in suitable bearings 01 i,-.so that it may the shifted longitudinally, and thus the wheel G thrown into or out of gear with the wheel f The cord or chain his operated by a pulley, h, upon a crank-shaft, H, the crank k of which is driven by the connecting-rod k of an auxiliary steam-engine, K, fastened to the boiler E. The crank-shaft H is supported,

by suitable bearings i i and is providedwith a second pulley, h which, by means of acord or chain, 1, drives another pulley, P, on a shaft, l. The shaft 1 is provided withaworm-wheel, L, which gears into the screw-wheel M on the periphery of the wheel F. The shaft Z is mounted in swinging hangers N, pivoted at a,

and provided with concentric slots n and clamping-screws M. This construction serves to make the worm-wheel L movable in or out of gear with the screw-wheel M.

The axle B is provided with a loose gearwheel, m, kept in position by a collar,-m.

The gear-wheel m is of the same size and construction as the wheel b, and it gears into the opposite side of the wheel G, and thereby keeps it balanced horizontally. 18y means of the band or chain h and wheels W, F, f, and G, the wheels 0 may be driven at a veryhigh speed; and by means of the band or chain 1,

worm L, screw-wheel M, and gear-wheels b and]? the truck-wheels 0 may be drivenwith great power.

Operation: Under ordinary circumstances the car is propelled bya single engine,inwhich case the auxiliary engine is stopped, the wheel F raised by means of the nut 9 out of gear with the wheel b the worm-wheel L swung main engine D, or both the engines together,

are not powerful enough to propel the car under the adjustment last made, the wheel G is moved out of gear with the pinion f and the worm-wheel L is moved into gear with the screw wheel periphery M of the wheel F, and thus while both engines work in concertadecreased speed with great power is effected. The ad ditional friction-surface gained by the auxiliary wheels 0 renders my speed and power increasing devices more effective than a direct connection of the said devices with only the main wheels 0, inasmuch as by allowing the wheels 0 to move independently of the main wheels 0 the locomotive-truck with six wheels can turn curves with the same facility as a truckmountedonfourwheels. Moreover, when the speed or the power increasing devices are applied, either thewheels O or C may occasionally slip upon the track without communicating such motion to each other, thereby securing a steady and easy motion over the track.

I contemplate to increase the traction or the bite of the. auxiliary wheels 0 by throwing as muchweight as possible upon the axle B by means of set-screws appropriately applied, or by other suitable means.

By my invention the necessity of using a central rail and horizontal 'griping or gearing Wheels is avoided, and at the same time the desired and necessary traction produced upon the two ordinary rails.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a locomotive-truck, A, having wheels 0 G,the combination of a main propellingengine and an auxiliary engine and the intermediate auxiliary mechanisms, whereby the traction may be increased or diminished alternately, at the will of the operator, substantially as set forth.

2. Ina locomotive-truck, A, the combination of independently-operated main driving-wheels U and the independently-operated auxiliary driving-wheels O and intermediate auxiliary mechanism, whereby the speed may be alternately increased or diminished, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of the axle B, wheel b wheel F, having a screw-wheel periphery, M,

and the propelling worm-wheel L, having swinging supports N, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. 7

4. The combination of the axle B, having traction-wheels G, the wheel b the wheelF, having a shaft, f, elevating-screw f and handwheel 9?, the pinion f and the propelling-wheel Gr, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth. 5. The combination of the boiler E, the main engine D, the auxiliary engine K, and the mechanism described for changing speed and power alternately, substantially as and I for the purpose set forth.

Witness my hand in the matter of myapplication for a patent for combinations of auxiliary mechanism for street and other cars this 

